Chair "Citwamo"

Chair "Citwamo"
it is carved with a mask "Cihongo" on the top of the back associated with zigzag patterns symbolizing rain. The backrest is also embellished with two naked figures facing each other sitting in symbolic positions.
The feet are adorned with a buffalo (a solar symbol associated with power), a scene evoking an adulterer, a figure holding a rifle ready to shoot the embracing couple. At the front the chief sits and his hands are meticulously carved. This chair is distinguished by the richness of its iconography and the unique adultery scene.
Wood, old leather with a brown patina
Tchokwé, Casaï region, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th - early 20th century
62 x 26 x 27 cm

The adultery scene can be compared with the one depicted on the chair in the collections of the Neuchatel Museum of Ethnography and reproduced in the book "Les signes du pouvoir, Marie Louise BASTIN, ed. du musée de Neuchatel, 1992, pp. 176-179". Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.